Würzburg 2018 – scientific programme

Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help

T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik

T 8: Neutrinophysik V

T 8.9: Talk

Monday, March 19, 2018, 18:10–18:25, Z6 - HS 0.001

Precise modeling of KATRIN beta spectrum of tritium for keV sterile neutrino search — •Federico Roccati for the KATRIN collaboration — Max-Planck-Institute for Physics, Munich, Germany

The KATRIN experiment major task is to probe the effective electron anti-neutrino mass with a sensitivity of 200 meV at 90% confidence level. The KATRIN setup, along with an upgraded detector and readout system, is suitable for keV-scale sterile neutrino search. The signature of a sterile neutrino in the tritium beta decay spectrum is a minuscule kink-like distortion. To enable a sensitive search for this characteristic feature, an ultra-precise modeling of the entire tritium beta spectrum is necessary. For this reason, a novel semi-analytical, multi-dimensional convolution technique has been developed. It tracks both the energy and angular distribution of the electrons as they leave the windowless gaseous tritium source of KATRIN.

In this talk the basic idea and first results obtained with this new technique will be presented. Furthermore, we will present the concept of how to integrate the results in a more general simulation framework for a keV-scale sterile neutrino search with KATRIN.